Well my most dreaded Sunday is finally over and now I have to learn how to walk all over again! Kent, Rob and I made our way down to good ole Disney World and opened up a great big can of WoopAss on that little Mouse. My first Marathon started off as a good trip with Kent as my riding partner. The trip down was good as I had someone to talk to. It really makes the time go by. So we get down to the Expo and find Rob after we pick up our race packets. We only had about 15 minutes to check things out before they closed up, so just looked around while Rob shopped, like always! We were starving by the time they ran us out, so we headed over to Celebration to find us some carbs. The Maccoroni Grill caught our attention, so in we go. It is similar to Carabbas (my fav) so all was good. Pasta and sweet tea is always a good pre-race dinner, although I really wanted some rice.
So we head back over to Lake Beuna Vista drive to find our motel the Orlando Vista to check in. An older motel but pretty and nice. There were a lot of racers staying there too. Everything was good until we heard the barking dogs! What the hell is that all about? So we call the front desk and find out that it is a pet friendly motel. So we complained and hoped for the best. Well I guess the pet owners finally arrived, because we never heard them again (at least not that day).
Well Rob has to get up early in the morning to run the half marathon. So we get ready to hit the sack. Kent and I decide that we are going to sleep-in and hopefully get up in time to see him finish the race. He said that he was going to run a slow pace to finish in around a 2:30 half marathon.
So it is now 7:45am and Kent and I are wide awake. So we hurry and get ready to go see Rob finish the half. We figure that he will be finishing around 8:15 or so. So we rush over to the family reunion area and start texting and looking for Rob. After about and hour goes, Rob finally texts us back and says that he is over at the finish line watching the racers come in. So we go meet him and ask him what his time was. Well he was way off of his guestimated time and finished in 1:45! So we rushed to get ready and get there for no reason because he was finished before we ever left the motel. Oh well, sorry Rob. But congrats on the great time. Hope you have enough left for the marathon tomorrow!
So we get Rob and head back to the motel to get cleaned up to go eat. Rob wants to go to Downtown Disney to find food, so we head over there. We decide to eat at Wolfgang Puck's Express Grill and of course we are looking for more carbs. I get the kids peperoni pizza, Kent and Rob get the chicken penna dish. All was quite good. So what are we going to do now?
We decide to head over to the Magic Kingdom to hit some rides and possibly see the fire works show. So off we go, hi-ho hi-ho hi-ho. Space Mountain, the Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear, Monster's Inc comedy show, Swiss Family Robinson treehouse, and woooeeee we are getting tired and hungry again. So Kent decides that we need to check out Tony's restraunt within the park. So we head over there and get right in. I get the Grilled Salmon with orzo pasta which was excellent. We get talking to several other people eating next to us that are also running in the race. That was nice because we got to get their perspectives and experiences about the race. One guy was doing the Goofy like Rob and actually finished the half just a few minutes before Rob did. So we are through eating now and are trying to decide what to do next. We are all pretty tired so we decide to just head back over to the motel and maybe try to turn in a little early. We do have to get up around 3:00am to get ready for the race. Start time is at 5:50am and all of the roads will be blocked off well before that.
So we go back to the motel and watch a little tv and check my emails. We finally hit the sack around 10:00 or so. I slept pretty good but we both kept getting up to go to the bath room because we had been hydrating all day and night. I must have gone 5 times.
Ok, the alarm clock goes off at 3:00am sharp and I hit the shower running. I am kind of excited and apprehensive at the same time. I have never ran this far before and don't know if I can actually do it. Well I am here and I am going to do it no matter what. I am feeling 100% and somewhat confident even though I am not looking forward to it. I am planning on doing the "run a mile walk a while" thing and see how it works. All I want to do finish, and if I get a respectable time doing it, then all the better. So we are ready now and try to call Rob, but no answer. He is still asleep and isn't getting up. He finally answers and says that he will meet us over there at the race area.
So I grab a banana and we head out toward the race area. I also take 2 ibuprophren to preempt the on-coming pain. We get near the EPCOT parking area and it is a total log jam with cars trying to get in. We have plenty of time and at least the line is moving some. About the time we get parked, Rob calls and says that he is almost there. So we go ahead and head over to the baggage drop off area and wait for him before we head over to the starting line. He meets us there is just a few minutes and we head over with 15,000 of our closest friends. It is quite a long walk to get there and everyone is trying to get their last bathroom break in before the race starts. It is really funny how everyone just throws all of their morals out the door when you do want or can't wait to go. So we get to the starting line and it seems to be backed up a mile. We are all in different starting corrals so we wish each other good luck and head to our differnet corrals.
Rob is in B, Kent is in C, and I am in D corral. D just happens to be the front corral on the outside lane of the starting line-up. A, B, & C are all on the inside lane with the Pro-Elite about 300-400 yards behind us. We must have the longer route to run before the race merges back up at the 4 mile mark. They do this to enable the field to get spread out so their won't be that many racers on the road at the same time in the same spot. It is a pretty good idea I think and it does work. Can be kind of confusing though for some people. But I guess it all works out in th e long run, literally!
Well I finally make it to my corral and I am probably 100 yards from the starting line. The race director makes some last minute announcements and the count down begins. When it gets down to zero, a whole lot of fireworks go off and lights up the sky. And we are off to the races. Well at least the people at the front of the line are. It takes me about 3 minutes to actually get to and cross the start line. But I am finnally on the road and running. Everything is good as I don't run over anyone and don't get run over either. I quickly spot an older guy that a t-shirt that says he is member of the 50 states marathon club. Well of course I have go over and ask him what that is all about. He tells me that he has ran a marathon in every state and has a total 156. WOW, I am dumbfounded! That is incredible and an awesome accomplishment I told him. I wished him good luck and continued on. I wonder if he beat my time? LOL
So I am running along at an easy pace which is about the same pace as everyone else. I have brought my camera with me with the plan to take a picture at every mile marker. My other plan is to run to every mile marker and walk though every water break. Which I will definitely stick to.
So I see mile marker one coming up ahead so I go ahead and get my camera out of my pocket and out of the zip-lock baggie that it is in. I don't want to take too much time taking the photo. I take a quick picture and walk about 100 yards before I start back up. My time is 13:10. Officially my time is 10:10 since it took me 3 minutes to get to the starting line.
So I am off again looking for mile marker 2. I see it far ahead and get prepared just like mile 1. So when I get real close I merge over to the left side of the road to get out of everyone's way when I slow down. Well there is girl in front of me and she just stops without warning! I almost fun right over her. Jumping to the left of her right at the last moment, I miss her. There are several people taking photos so I fit right in. I ask someone to take my picture with me in it and they do. My time is now 24:34.
Mile 3 is now 37:40. I am sticking to about an 11:00 minute pace, which is fine.
Mile 4 is 49:09.
Mile 5 is 1:01:13 Still on an 11:00 minute pace! YEAH!!!
Mile 6 is 1:12:43 and I am starting to feel a pain in my left little toe. It is the first time that I have worn these shoes so I suspect that I am getting a blister. But what can I do about it? Not much out in the middle of no where! Oh well, I will have to just keep on trucking.
Mile 6.5 and I have got to go to the bathroom, and it is not to pee! There is a water break coming up ahead and they have porta-potties. So I will stop and do my business. This takes approximately 3 minutes as I have to wait in line.
Mile 7 is 1:27:59 so I am now up to a 12 minute pace.
Mile 8 is 1:41:36
Mile 9 is 1:52:44
Mile 10 is 2:04:15
Mile 11 is 2:16:38
Mile 12 is 2:28:54
Mile 13 is 2:41:16 But my official half marathon time is 2:40:05
Mile 14 is 2:56:01
Mile 15 is 3:09:09
Mile 16 is 3:20:35
Mile 17 is missed somehow and I didn't even get a photo!
Mile 18 is 3:46:07 and I am still on a 12 minute pace!
Mile 19 is 3:58:21 and I am starting to really hurt in my hips. I decide to walk more now.
Mile 20 is 4:11:12 and I walked a lot and it only pushed my pace to 13 minutes.
Mile 21 is 4:22:43. Oh look, I must have found so extra energy! My pace went down to 11 miuntes.
Mile 22 is 4:35:26 and everything is really starting to hurt now and my pace is back down to about 12.5 minutes.
Mile 23 is 4:49:44, a 14 minute pace and I am hurting alot!
Mile 24 is 5:02:28 and I decide to try to run the rest of the race without walking. Except to take pictures.
Mile 25 is 5:14:33
Mile 26 is 5:26:38
Finish line is 5:29:07 and officially my time is 5:26:50. an average pace of 12:48. Not bad for a first (and last) timer I think.
